Work has been rather hectic lately, and it’s made me want to get back into a mindfulness practice. For those who aren’t familiar with mindfulness, the basic premise is to be fully in the present moment. You’re not trying to adopt a more positive attitude nor reduce feelings of unpleasantness. Rather, you’re taking notice of the sensations you’re experiencing across all five senses at that very moment, simply taking notice of them without judgement.

My workplace offered a mindfulness meditation course a few years ago (pre-COVID, a.k.a. The Before Times), and while I usually grouch if I have to come into the office before 9 am, I did so almost happily during those few weeks. I found the practice transformative, and it soon became a daily ritual for me to start my work day by making my coffee in a mindful way. I found it a soothing ritual, and a good way to start off my days with a shot of calm.

Fast forward a few years, and the pandemic, and while I still grab mindful moments here and there, mindfulness is no longer a daily practice for me. And when I saw Anna Black’s Mindfulness Meditations on the Firefly Books spring catalogue, it was a timely, perhaps even fateful, reminder of what I now realize I miss very much.

Mindfulness Meditations is a good introduction to the practice. It includes a bit of an introduction to mindfulness itself — what it is, how it came about, and what are some common misconceptions about it. As someone who tends to skim when I read, I appreciate how this book is formatted for easy reading: the practices themselves are in italic font and between brackets, and important info in the introductory paragraphs are highlighted with bigger and bolder font.

My favourite part is the artwork. The ink and watercolour illustrations of nature (for example leaves falling down the side of a page) or elements from the practices (for example a chair, or a sudsy sink of dishes to be washed) add a lovely touch of whimsy to the practices, and make it all just that much more accessible and appealing.

I also appreciate how Black organized her content. First, she begins by giving us exercises to help us become better attuned to our body, then she moves on to exercises to help us co-exist more mindfully with people around us. I like how she offers practices where we can focus on a particular part of our body, for example our hands, and also practices where we mindfully pay attention to multiple body parts. Depending on where my stress feels on a given day, I can imagine finding one or the other of those exercises more helpful.

Some of the exercises made me laugh. For example, she suggests that when we shower, we consider who is in the shower with us. She means who is occupying our thoughts and taking our attention away from the showering experience, but the phrasing came off a bit like a horror movie jump scare for me.

She also suggests that when our phone rings, we stop to consider the emotions coursing through us as we listen to it ring. She suggests taking stock of those emotions and bodily responses before answering the call. While I understand where she’s coming from and a petty part of me likes the idea of making people wait before I answer their call, doing this will just increase my stress. And if I do this in public, it will also increase other people’s stress at having to hear my phone keep ringing. So that’s not feasible at all.

I do like the “Seeing-Drawing” exercise, which is based on the Blind Contour Drawing developed by Kimon Nicolaides. I was recently at a workshop where the instructor did this exercise, and it’s indeed very relaxing. I also like the exercise of “Offering Kindness to Yourself,” where you basically take a moment to wish yourself well. It’s a soothing, and much-needed practice.

How do I see myself using this book? It’s not portable — it’s full-size and won’t fit in my purse — so it won’t work well as an easily accessible on-the-go guide. At the same time, some of the practices work best while on the go, for example, there are practices to do while waiting for the bus, or dealing with a red light on your commute. I thought of leaving my copy in the office, since that’s where I will probably find myself most often reaching for a mindfulness practice, but then there are exercises that can only be done at home, so that won’t work either.

What I may do instead is pick a practice I want to focus on, perhaps once a week, and then focus on doing that practice throughout the week. I may start with “Offering Kindness to Yourself” for this week, see how that goes. And over time, I imagine, some of these practices will become second nature.

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Thanks to Firefly Distributed Lines for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.